• @jackpot@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    874 months ago

    i think they mean ‘man’ as in ‘mankind’. also any ideas why would they carve it into bone and not bark or something more flat?

    • Kairos
      link
      fedilink
      674 months ago

      They probably did but only the bone survived time

        • Kairos
          link
          fedilink
          64 months ago

          Always remember to check for survivorship bias. It’s the most fundamental way to lie with statistics.

    • Likely durability. A bone and a stick can both be thrown into a bag and carried with you, but a bone is much more durable than a stick. It’ll be less likely to break or wear down as it rubs against everything else in your bag.

    • @Rowan@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      74 months ago

      Likely durability and portability. Think of it as something they use month over month and just mark the day with something like a string band. Bone would be light enough to keep with you, strong enough to not break, and common enough to be available for household use.

    • @survivalmachine@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      -1
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Sure, you can say “man” means “mankind”, but when you use gendered language like that, most people picture a couple of caveMEN sitting around a fire carving bones rather than caveHUMANS (edited – I think it would benefit us to picture all genders around this hypothetical fire). Even though we try to use gendered language in a neutral way, listeners will often perceive the language in a gendered way.

      • @jackpot@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        284 months ago

        no i mean, by the people ‘who consider it’. i think the speaksr didnt understand that theyre saying it’s mankind others are talkint abkut

        • @Rodeo@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          -234 months ago

          Oh but the word mankind in itself overlooks women. We’re all supposed to be saying humankind now.

          • @jackpot@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            114 months ago

            etymologically speaking im not even sure if thats right. i heard somethibg like this and they either said woman doesnt derive from man or that man used to mean woman and man but woman became its own thing, cant recall

            • @John_McMurray@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              34 months ago

              “man” in the contexts not directly related to being a male, means human. “Man” used to have a prefix vaguely pronounced “were” and “woman” used to be “wifman”. Female werewolf would be a “wifwolf” then. So anyways, “Man” never changed it’s meaning, it really just gained an additional one, and yet again, whiners need to read a book.